Bond

As mentioned, yesterday I went to see the latest Bond film, DIE ANOTHER DAY, which only opened 2 weeks ago in Japan. Living in Ikebukuro is quite good for films as there are quite a few theatres in the area. The Bond film was playing at the Tokyu theatre, which is maybe the only theatre in Ikebukuro that I’ve never been to. It only has one screen, and is on the 7th floor of a building. To my surprise, the screen was actually quite big, and the sound was great (as modern as Tokyo can be, a lot of the movie theatres are unfortunately sadly lacking in modern sound equipment). As I was waiting for the film to start, I was also reading a Bond book, NEVER DREAM OF DYING (it was kind of surreal as they kept playing the Paul Oakenfold remix of the 007 theme while we were waiting, which gave a new dimension to the action sequence that was taking place in the book). I recently became aware of the new author who is writing Bond books these days, Raymond Benson, and this is the 3rd one I read in a about a month. I remember reading the John Gardner books in the 80s, and not finding them that great, and so I was curious to find out what kind of Bond book this new author was capable of producing. Well, I’m totally hooked. I actually like the Benson books more than the past 2 decades of Bond films. I can’t wait to read the ones I’m missing (he’s written 6), especially the latest one, THE MAN WITH THE RED TATOO (comes out in paperback in May), as it takes place in Japan.

Sorry for the Bond rant. I have been a very quiet Bond fan for the past few years (especially after the disapointing Brosnan efforts), but the DVD box set I recently received from my mother just got me back into a Bond mood, hence the book reading (I’ll also admit to getting THE SECRET WORLD OF 007, a really nice book that goes into the details of all his gadgets, toys, and the various missions he’s been on, in a cool picture-heavy format). Yesterday I also went to Beams Street, where I bought a new jacket for spring, and I was tempted by this really nice simple Bond t-shirt that had the classic logo and profile. I’m still sort of thinking about it…